Oh no, it’s that time of year. Or it might be, depending on when you’re reading this. At the time of writing, it’s sort of that time of year, at least. And that time of year is Oscar season. People who get excited about the Oscars like to talk about the Oscars, and then people who don’t like the Oscars get excited about talking smack about the Oscars. And those behind the Oscars are probably happy either way.

The following is an attempt to look at times in Oscar history when there was a clear winner for the award of Best Director, and that director won. It’s not necessarily the best of the best when it comes to Academy Award-winning directors, because some of these examples were standout winners in years that weren’t too competitive. Not every year is like 2023, for example, when Christopher Nolan won for Oppenheimer, but just about everyone else would’ve also been a worthy winner (Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest, Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things, Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon, or Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall… big year).

10

William Wyler

‘Ben-Hur’ (1959)

Image via Loews, Inc.

If Ben-Hur ain’t perfect, then it’s close enough to it that it might as well be. Or, if you’re still feeling critical, it’s an amazing production (if a little slow in parts), yet not without some of the best sequences in the history of the whole epic genre. Hell, maybe even the best in cinema history. That chariot race is – and always has been – worth the price of admission alone.

Ben-Hur was done on such a massive scale that the fact it didn’t collapse under its own weight was something of a miracle, and William Wyler, as its director, had to have played a naturally important role in keeping it all together, even if only just. Gone with the Wind had been similarly massive 20 years earlier, sure, and Victor Fleming had won for his directing there, though that win was maybe slightly less indisputable, owing to 1939 being a famously strong year for cinema (and hey, what do you know: Wyler was also nominated that year, for directing Wuthering Heights. No, not that one).

9

James Cameron

‘Titanic’ (1997)

Image via Paramount Pictures

There are complaints that people make about Titanic, since it’s all very broad in some ways, and it also isn’t really the most original movie in the world, but it’s still a wildly impressive technical and directorial achievement, in any event. It’s a tearjerker romance film and a disaster movie, and those two things are combined incredibly well. So, yes, Titanic is well-written (it’s quotable, too), even with some of the clichés and well-worn narrative conventions used.

James Cameron has made plenty of other great movies, so whether Titanic is his absolute best is hard to say, but it feels like the film of his that most deserved to win him a Best Director Oscar. He was king of the world, as he said, on that night in March 1998. That’s a wild thing to say, in most circumstances, yet here, Cameron did honestly earn the right to say it… just.

8

Lewis Milestone

‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (1930)

Image via Universal Pictures

All Quiet on the Western Front was one of the first big Oscar successes, naturally, since it won Best Picture and Best Director at the 3^rd Academy Awards. Lewis Milestone won for directing a World War I movie that was, in many regards, quite ahead of its time, in a way that maybe was felt, to some extent, even back then. One can imagine All Quiet on the Western Front succeeding at shocking people, at least.

It’s anti-war in a way that’s been done by plenty of great movies since, and the impact here isn’t going to be as intense if you watch it now, nearly 100 years later, but you can still admire the heaviness of this, by the standards of the early 1930s. As for Milestone’s competition, there were some other directors nominated that year who are fairly well-remembered, at least by those who like older films (like King Vidor and Ernst Lubitsch), but none for helming particularly well-remembered movies, so Milestone and All Quiet on the Western Front felt like the most obvious and deserving picks.

7

Martin Scorsese

‘The Departed’ (2006)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Look, Martin Scorsese should’ve won an Oscar for his directing before 2006, or technically before 2007, because that’s the year his 2006 film, The Departed, finally got him an Academy Award, and it was also the first movie of his to win Best Picture (that’s surprising, too). Honestly, movies like Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas were arguably more deserving of a Best Picture win, and Best Director wins for Scorsese specifically.

So, “deserving” here takes Scorsese’s career into account, and the notion that he was kind of overdue. Also, The Departed is still a pretty great movie, so quality-wise, it wasn’t anywhere near an unworthy winner, for either Best Picture or Best Director. The debatable best movie of that year, though, wasn’t nominated in either of those categories: Pan’s Labyrinth (directed by Guillermo del Toro). And the same goes for Children of Men, especially as far as directing’s concerned, as Alfonso Cuarón not being at least nominated for Best Director feels like an oversight.

6

Steven Spielberg

‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)

Image via Universal Pictures

In 1993, two of the best movies Steven Spielberg ever directed came out, and both were completely different in tone and genre. Jurassic Park dominated that year box office-wise, and it still holds up as an absolute classic sci-fi/adventure/thriller movie, while Schindler’s List was that year’s biggest success at the Academy Awards, winning seven in total, including Best Picture and a Best Director win for Spielberg.

Spielberg wasn’t as overdue for a win as Scorsese was, in 2006, but still, he’d made some incredible movies in the two decades that preceded Schindler’s List, so it was still a decently long time coming, given that Spielberg had thrived when it came to both quality (for the most part) and quantity. Schindler’s List was a worthy first win for Spielberg, and he won the Best Director Oscar again five years later for another World War II movie: Saving Private Ryan (though that one did lose Best Picture, somewhat infamously, to Shakespeare in Love).

5

Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins

‘West Side Story’ (1961)

Image via United Artists

West Side Story marked the first time two people were given the Oscar for Best Director in the same year and for the same movie: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. For a while, they were the only duo (so to speak) to do so, at least until the Coen Brothers won for No Country for Old Men. With West Side Story, you probably know the deal, though, like, narrative-wise. Romeo and Juliet in New York City, and with singing.

It’s not really a fun or wholesome musical, yet it is an amazing one, and is a contender for the best-directed musical released during the genre’s heyday (at least in the U.S., that was the 1950s and then a good chunk of the 1960s). Wise and Robbins do a particularly impressive job at retaining the feel of the stage production they’re adapting, yet without pushing the artificiality or theatricality too far. And Robbins was key to that side of things, since he was credited with producing and directing the original stage production of West Side Story in 1957.

4

Peter Jackson

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)

Image via New Line Cinema

Peter Jackson’s Best Director win in 2003 wasn’t officially for his work on directing all three movies in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but unofficially… like, it kind of/probably was. He won for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and that was the only one of the three that also won Best Picture, but the whole trilogy was kind of one giant production and story (you can easily watch them back-to-back-to-back, provided you have enough time), and it all obviously culminates with this one.

Whether The Return of the King is the genuine best of the three is up for debate, but the main thing is that the landing was stuck (or landings were stuck), and the destination (or destinations) ended up being as immensely satisfying as the journey. For the 21^st century so far, there is also a pretty good argument to be made that The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the best of the Best Picture winners.

3

Francis Ford Coppola

‘The Godfather Part II’ (1974)

Things were tight in 1972, because Francis Ford Coppola didn’t win the Oscar for Best Director for his work on the original The Godfather. Maybe he should’ve, but also, Bob Fosse’s win for Cabaret was fairly well-deserved, or at least you can understand why that film won. Also, both directors did arguably their best work in 1979, with Fosse’s All That Jazz and Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, yet neither won that year. Best Director went to Robert Benton for Kramer vs. Kramer, instead.

Anyway, Coppola did win in 1974, and even if you don’t like The Godfather Part II quite as much as the first, you can probably agree that it’s on a similar level quality-wise (what with it being one of the most acclaimed sequels of all time and everything). Also, it was a more ambitious – and overall grander in scope – movie than The Godfather, so Coppola managing to oversee it all and keep it so consistent and focused was an impressive filmmaking achievement. Chinatown would’ve also been a deserving winner that year, though The Godfather Part II is probably more impressive overall, and if the award for Coppola was also, in part, acknowledging his nomination without a win for the first movie, then that makes his win further understandable.

2

David Lean

‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962)

Image via Columbia Pictures

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A movie like Lawrence of Arabia inspires hyperbolic things to be said about it, and it’s super obvious that it was an amazing achievement on the part of David Lean, who’d already won Best Director at the Academy Awards before, for The Bridge on the River Kwai. That movie won for 1957, and was also a deserving win, albeit not as clear a winner as was Lawrence of Arabia, since Lean had some tough competition for the award, owing to Sidney Lumet also being nominated that year for 12 Angry Men.

Also, the award was technically called “Best Directing” back then, so if you wanted to be annoying, you could say Lean didn’t actually ever win an Oscar for Best Director; not by that exact name. But why would you want to be annoying? Life’s too short to be annoying, though it’s not too short to experience a film like Lawrence of Arabia a bunch of times, even if it’s an incredibly long watch (might well be the most rewatchable movie that has a runtime of nearly four hours).

1

Miloš Forman

‘Amadeus’ (1984)

Image via Orion Pictures

Like David Lean, Miloš Forman also won two Oscars for Best Director, with Amadeus being arguably the most deserving win of his two. Funnily enough, when it won in 1984, one of Forman’s competitors was Lean himself, who’d been nominated for directing what ended up being his final film, A Passage to India. Forman’s other win was for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which famously dominated its year when it came to the Academy Awards, winning the big five.

It’s just that Best Director for 1975 was a stacked category: Federico Fellini for Amarcord, Stanley Kubrick for Barry Lyndon, Sidney Lumet for Dog Day Afternoon, and Robert Altman for Nashville. Like, damn. So, Forman winning in 1984 felt like more of a sure thing, since Amadeus is remarkable in just about every way, and the other nominees for the Directing category didn’t really stand a chance (if Sergio Leone had been nominated as he deserved, though, for directing Once Upon a Time in America… well, that’d be another story).

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Amadeus

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Release Date

September 19, 1984

Runtime

160 minutes

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Director

Milos Forman

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Writers

Peter Shaffer

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For almost two years, Gerry Goldberg advocated for a traffic light installation at an intersection in Colorado. He started his campaign after his wife, Andie Goldberg, was killed in a car crash at said intersection in 2024. Despite his efforts, nothing changed. Then, last Monday, Gerry also passed away at the same intersection as his late wife.

RELATED: Video Shows LaMelo Ball Involved In Car Crash In Downtown Charlotte, Hazel E Reacts (WATCH)

Details About Fatal Crash At Colorado Intersection

According to Denver7, the crash that killed Gerry involved two cars at the shared intersection at E. Belleview Avenue and S. Franklin Street. He died on Monday (March 2). His cousin, Gloria, told local media that Gerry was headed to meet her for lunch when the crash happened. She became concerned after he missed their meet time and wasn’t answering any calls or texts. Goldberg passed away from his injuries.

Gerry Goldberg Pushed For Traffic Light

As said, Andie Goldberg died at the intersection on May 30, 2024. A car struck her while she was crossing Belleview and headed home after a training run. A couple of months ago, Gerry spoke about the incident at a city council meeting, urging Greenwood Village leaders to install a traffic light.

“I would like to think that Andie’s tragic death could have some positive outcome by ensuring the future safety of others using Belleview and being able to cross or turn onto it safely,” Gerry said.

After Gerry’s late wife died, a group of neighbors had started a campaign honoring  called Andie’s Light. According to Denver7, public records show that others had shared the same concerns about the intersection and lack of a traffic light by other residents in the City of Greenwood Village. Talks of the intersection date back to 2009, per City Council minutes. At the time, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) shared study findings that claiming speeding was not a reason to add a traffic light.

Officials Didn’t Take Action Despite Finding Need For One

Months after Andie died in 2024, CDOT conducted another study and found that 85% of cars were going at least 5 mph over the speed limit. They approved a traffic signal, but it was never installed. In a text message to a Denver7 reporter, CDOT confirmed that it approved the installation, but that ultimately, Greenwood Village was “responsible for the design, installation and funding” of the project whereas CDOT “would be responsible for maintaining and operating it after installation.” 

City spokesperson Megan Copenhaver gave a statement to the media outlet, but didn’t explain why the city didn’t install the traffic light. Instead, the statement claimed the city had “increased police patrols and traffic enforcement in the area to promote safer driving behaviors.” It also said the city is “reviewing potential long-term solutions” with the help of partner agencies.

Meanwhile, in an email sent to Denver7, Andie’s Light urged city officials to act now.

“We want the city councils of Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village to approve and fund the installation of a traffic light at this intersection as soon as practicably possible.”

Still, not all the area residents were on the same page as Gerry Goldberg and Andie’s Light. On December 10, some Greenwood Village residents opposed a traffic light at a city council meeting. They claimed that additional safety issues might arise if the light diverts more traffic onto the side residential streets. Cherry Hills Village city manager Chris Cramer said the city planned to discuss the intersection again on March 17 at a council meeting. Now, they’re moving to expedite the evaluation to determine if the traffic light is still needed.

RELATED: Florida Dad Battling Stage 4 Cancer Reportedly Receives 37-Year Sentence After Unlicensed Son Killed 4 In Car Crash

Hallmark Media kicked off 2026 with a fresh slate of movies and TV shows — with more features being released all year long.

In December 2025, Hallmark unveiled its “Winter Escape” lineup, featuring five new rom-coms that began airing in January. Lacey Chabert and Ian Harding headlined the first movie of 2026, Lost in Paradise, filmed in Fiji.

“This movie is truly an adventure filled with comedy and even a little romance 😉 I hope you’ll tune in!” Chabert wrote via Instagram in support of the movie’s January 3 release.

The following day, fans headed back to Hope Valley for season 13 of When Calls the Heart.

“There’s no shortage of love and romance,” star Erin Krakow exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the January 4 premiere, teasing that her character, Elizabeth Thornton, and boyfriend Mountie Nathan Grant (Kevin McGarry) will “get romantic together” once back in town.

February marked the network’s “Loveuary” lineup with four new rom-coms. The network’s “Spring Into Love” lineup brought six new romance films sprinkled throughout March and April.

Scroll down to see all the new movies and TV shows coming to Hallmark Channel and Hallmark+ through the end of 2026:

January — Hallmark Channel

‘Lost in Paradise’

Premiere Date: Saturday, January 3, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Lacey Chabert and Ian Harding

Logline: “When the founder of a high-end fashion company (Chabert) gets marooned on an ‘deserted’ island with a chef (Harding), romance blossoms as they work together to survive.”

‘A Melbourne Match’

Premiere Date: Saturday, January 10, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Mallory Jansen and Ryan Corr

Logline: “Georgie (Jansen), a travel writer, travels to Melbourne for an assignment where she meets Zach (Corr), an Australian ex-footballer who agrees to be her tour guide and shows her that there’s more to life than work.”

‘Love on the Amazon’

Premiere Date: Saturday, January 17, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Jaicy Elliot and Rafael de la Fuente

Logline: “Claire (Elliot) travels to Brazil and hires Danny (De la Fuente), a riverboat captain, to help her deliver an important message for her sister Amelia, a marine biologist studying pink dolphins on the Amazon River.”

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The Hallmark Channel has become the one-stop-shop of holiday movies and light-hearted rom-coms over the years — with many fans tuning in to see their favorite leading ladies. Thank You! You have successfully subscribed. Subscribe to newsletters Enter your email Please enter a valid email. Subscribe By signing up, I agree to the Terms and […]

‘Caught by Love’

Premiere Date: Saturday, January 24, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Rachael Leigh Cook and Luke Macfarlane

Logline: “While on a journey of self-discovery, a resort guest gets swept into an undercover investigation for stolen jewels that turns into an unexpected and adventurous romance.”

‘Missing the Boat’

Premiere Date: Saturday, January 31, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Emilie Ullerup and Kristoffer Polaha

Logline: “Strangers Kelly (Ullerup) and Parker (Polaha) both end up on the same Italian cruise, but after missing the boat during a stop, they’re forced to team up and race across southern Italy to catch up.”

January — Hallmark Channel TV Shows

‘When Calls the Heart’ Season 13

Premiere Date: Sunday, January 4, at 8 p.m. ET. (Next day on Hallmark+)

Stars: Erin Krakow, Kevin McGarry, Chris McNally, Jack Wagner and more

Logline: “Inspired by Janette Oke’s bestselling book series about the Canadian West, When Calls the Heart follows the story of a schoolteacher and single mother, Elizabeth Thornton ( Krakow), in the quaint town of Hope Valley. With the help and guidance of the townspeople and her friends, she adjusts to the ever-changing times and the people that enter her life.”

January — Hallmark+ Shows

‘Second Chance at Love’ Season 1

Premiere Date: Thursday, January 1.

Hosts: Matthew Lawrence and Chilli

Logline: “Ten singles invite their ‘first loves’ on a whirlwind trip to an idyllic setting, where they hope to rekindle what might have been.”

February — Hallmark Channel

‘The Way to You’

Premiere Date: Saturday, February 7, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Kim Matula and Aaron O’Connell

Logline: “New Yorkers Emma (Matula) and Conrad (O’Connell) agree to help each other find their missed connections after a subway blackout. Their search might lead to love, but not where either of them expects to find it.”

‘Because of Cupid’

Premiere Date: Saturday, February 14, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Amy Groening and Evan Roderick

Logline: “Best friends Naomi (Groening) and Marcus (Roderick) participate in a Valentine’s Day mocktail competition but things go awry when Cupid interferes with a love potion that affects Marcus and several of their friends.”

‘The Stars Between Us’

Premiere Date: Saturday, February 21, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Sarah Drew and Matt Long

Logline: “Seven years ago, Kim (Drew) made a connection with a stranger during an eclipse event. Now a fledgling news reporter, Kim returns to Illinois for this year’s eclipse, unaware that their paths may cross again.”

‘Romance at Hope Ranch’

Premiere Date: Saturday, February 28, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Alison Sweeney and Gabriel Hogan

Logline: “Hope Morgan (Sweeney) sets out to begin a new chapter of her life — fulfilling her childhood dream of running a ranch in the picturesque town of Ruidoso, New Mexico and reviving the beloved Giddy Up Gala.”

March — Hallmark Channel

‘Sugar & Vice: A Hannah Swensen Mystery’

Premiere Date: Saturday, March 7, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Alison Sweeney, Victor Webster and Barbara Niven

Logline: “Hannah (Sweeney) finds a body at the grand re-opening of the Lake Eden Inn. When a storm traps everyone inside, Hannah must find the culprit before the road clears and the killer escapes.”

‘Nelly Knows Mysteries: All Manners of Murder’

Premiere Date: Saturday, March 14, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith

Logline: “Nelly (Hutton) and Detective Michael (Smith) set out to solve the murder of a guest while at a lavish dinner.”

‘Two for Tee’

Premiere Date: Saturday, March 21, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Janel Parrish and Chris McNally

Logline: “Tee (Parrish) is a Chinese American pottery artist who meets new community center handyman Will (McNally). As she learns about her family’s traditions through art, can she and Will save the center from closure?”

‘A Royal Setting’

Premiere Date: Saturday, March 28, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Jen Lilley and Dan Jeannotte

Logline: “Ruby (Lilley), a world-renowned gemologist, is hired by Prince Luca (Jeannotte) to restore the crown jewels and design his crown. This challenges tradition and complicates his relationship with his mother, the queen.”

March — Hallmark+ TV Shows

‘Hope Valley: 1874’

Premiere Date: Saturday, March 21.

Stars: Bethany Joy Lenz, Benjamin Ayres, Jill Hennessy, Roan Curtis and Lachlan Quarmby

Logline: “Rebecca Clarke (Lenz) travels from her home city of Chicago to the Western Canadian frontier with her 11-year-old-daughter. But when her wagon breaks down, she has no choice but to accept help from local rancher and confirmed bachelor, Tom Moore ( Ayres). Despite Rebecca’s best intentions to remain unattached, the future she dreams of for her and her daughter along with the people she meets in this fledgling town — including the guarded Tom and tenacious pioneer woman Hattie Quinn ( Hennessy) — ultimately compel her to put down roots and make a fresh start.”

April — Hallmark Channel

‘A Season to Blossom’

Premiere Date: Saturday, April 4, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Emily Tennant and Carlo Marks

Logline: “A drifting aspiring writer (Tennant) returns to sell her late grandmother’s bookstore, but its traditions — and her childhood crush — helps her rediscover her voice, her roots, and a love worth staying for.”

‘A Little Park Music’

Premiere Date: Saturday, April 11, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Laci J Mailey and Beau Mirchoff

Logline: “When a piano appears in the park gazebo, interfering with important work, city manager Allie (Mailey) joins forces with rookie cop Ryan (Mirchoff) to remove it, only to find both music and love are hard to resist.”

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Hallmark Channel could easily be renamed the “love channel” based on how many rom-coms it churns out every year — but how many are actually about Valentine’s Day? The network released its first V-Day focused film in 2011 with The Lost Valentine. Unlike the movies that followed, this holiday-themed project is more of a drama. […]

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‘To Philly With Love’

Premiere Date: Saturday, April 18, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Rebecca Dalton and Stephen Huszar

Logline: “A teacher and an archivist decode Revolutionary War-era love letters, taking them on a thrilling journey through Philadelphia where they uncover history — and discover a love story of their own.”

‘I’ll Be Seeing You’

Premiere Date: Saturday, April 25, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stars: Tyler Hynes, Stacey Farber and Christine Ebersole

Logline: “When a work errand derails Amy’s (Farber) weekend plans with her grandma, they embark on a road trip with one sentimental detour but need the help of a charming activities director.”

April — Hallmark Channel TV Shows

‘The Way Home’ Season 4

Premiere Date: Sunday, April 19, at 8 p.m. ET. (Episodes streaming the next day on Hallmark+.)

Stars: Andie MacDowell, Chyler Leigh and Sadie Laflamme-Snow

Logline: “New journeys and revelations await the Landry family across generations. At the beginning of season 4, Alice (Laflamme-Snow) is about to graduate high school, Kat (Leigh) and Elliot (Williams) dream of the next steps for their relationship while Del (MacDowell) realizes she will soon be an empty-nester again. But Del, Kat, Alice and Elliot should know by now that no matter how hard they try to focus on the future, the past is never gone. As more mysteries are unearthed, the Port Haven of the past and the Landry family of generations before might just contain the answers they seek.”

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In just over one week, Guillermo del Toro will return for his sixth round at the Academy Awards as a nominee thanks to his latest monstrous feature, Frankenstein. Over the last two decades, the celebrated helmer has turned up at the yearly award show courtesy of past projects like Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. Of the previous five trips, he’s walked away with an arm full of trophies three different times, with his most wins clocked by 2017’s sci-fi thriller The Shape of Water. This time around, he and the folks behind Frankenstein, which include leading stars Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac, are up for a whopping nine nominations. And, with all the buzz surrounding the Netflix film, it’s more than likely that they’ll walk away with at least one award if not several more.

Whether it’s as a director, writer, producer, or creature crafter, del Toro has kept himself incredibly busy year after year, delighting audiences with every project that has his name attached. Beyond his award-season takeover with Frankenstein, del Toro is also hard at work putting together two other features. For starters, he’ll reteam with Netflix for the animated feature The Buried Giant, which serves as an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s fantasy novel of the same name. Beyond that, he has a Frankenstein reunion brewing with Isaac, with the pair pushing forward on a new thriller titled Fury. But that’s not all!

Earlier this week, the Crimson Peak helmer took to social media to tease his return to the longest-running live-action sitcom of all time. That’s right, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans — Pappy McPoyle is back! Giving his X followers a peek behind the scenes, del Toro posted a shot of himself as the incredibly disheveled character who we haven’t seen since Season 11. The image implies that we’ll be getting a McPoyle-heavy episode in the upcoming eighteenth season that will put the celebrated director back in front of the camera and throw him into the raucous madness of our favorite series.

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When Can We Expect Season 18 of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’?

Now that Pappy — we mean del Toro — is back in action, when can audiences expect the gang’s triumphant return for Season 18 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia? The good news is that it certainly doesn’t look like there will be multiple years between seasons this time around, as filming has been underway for a few weeks. Rob Mac, Kaitlin Olson, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton haven’t shied away from filling fans in on how things are progressing, with multiple posts finding their way onto social media since cameras picked up.

Check out del Toro reprise his greatest role yet in the X post above and stay tuned for more updates to come about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s historic Season 18.

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Release Date

August 4, 2005

Directors

Matt Shakman, Fred Savage, Todd Biermann, Daniel Attias, Richie Keen, Randall Einhorn, Heath Cullens, Pete Chatmon, Jerry Levine, Kat Coiro, Megan Ganz, Jamie Babbit, John Fortenberry, Maurice Marable, Kimberly McCullough, Imani Hakim, LP, Tim Roche

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Writers

Scott Marder, Rob Rosell, Dave Chernin, John Chernin, Dannah Feinglass Phirman, Danielle Schneider, Conor Galvin, Becky Mann, Luvh Rakhe, Audra Sielaff, Eric Ledgin, Patrick Walsh, Lee Sung-jin, Mehar Sethi, Nina Pedrad, Keyonna Taylor, D. B. Weiss, David Benioff, Elijah Aron, Hunter Covington, Jordan Young, Adam Stein, Chris Romano, Eric Falconer

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By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 24 seconds ago

There are some critics out there who can’t seem to get over the fact that Daily Wire+ makes its own content. They have gone so out of their way to ignore the recent series The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin that there is still, as of this writing, no Rotten Tomatoes score for it from critics. It’s a fact that has been thrown in everyone’s faces to poison the well against this incredible King Arthur epic.

Ignoring all of the other content Daily Wire+ produces, including the magnificent Run Hide Fight and slow-burnWestern thriller Terror on the Prairie, any coverage of Daily Wire+ content focuses on one movie: Lady Ballers. This absurdist comedy was written and directed by Jeremy Boreing and features almost every well-known Daily Wire personality, including Matt Walsh, Brett Cooper (who also played Ganieda in The Pendragon Cycle), Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, and the controversial Candace Owens, who has since departed the company and is having a very public feud with both Daily Wire and Boreing. These things are enough for critics to shy away from it, especially in light of the escapades of Owens, but there’s more.

The story is about a failed basketball coach named Rob whose harsh coaching tactics are not as welcome in the era of DEI as they were when he was winning championships in 2008. Down on his luck, he finds himself working at a drag bar, where he is reunited with his former star player, Alex. He and Alex decide to train Alex for a local track and field event, but when Rob tries to register his protégé, he is told the men’s category is full. Alex, just coming off a shift at work, is still dressed in drag, causing the horrified race registrar to profusely apologize and allow Alex into the race… as a transgender woman.

Things get even more complicated when reporter Gwen Wilde enters the picture and convinces Rob and Alex to enter a women’s basketball competition as transgender athletes. Rob’s daughter, Winnie, a savvy eight-year-old who goes to public school and lives with her mother and extremely liberal stepfather, Kris, assists by explaining how gender identity works. The team does well, and the players all embrace their inner women, but their fame and stardom comes with unforeseen complications.

One of the strongest things about this movie is its script, which manages to touch every aspect of its subject matter in ways that highlight the absurdity of some of the arguments made about gender identity. This is probably why so many critics consider it “transphobic,” but what the movie really does is explore these arguments to conclusions that should be extreme but aren’t. Swimmer Reilly Gaines makes a poignant appearance as she is beaten in a race by one of the athletes, so this movie is definitely a direct statement on the inclusion of trans women in women’s sports.

What it surprisingly does not do is judge gender ideology any more harshly than it judges anything else. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Matt Walsh is surprisingly good in this movie as the hippie stepfather to Winnie, repeating every talking point with deadpan earnestness. But Rob is equally earnest in his own ridiculous ideas and equally lampooned in his aggressive attitudes about winning, his complete misunderstanding of gender theory, and his clumsy attempts to deal with his ex-wife, Dharby. In fact, Jeremy Boreing’s script even makes fun of itself more than once, calling out its own events. This is mostly a very intelligent script, even as it revels in its absurdity.

As much as the movie is about Rob and the team, the most important character is Winnie. Rob’s one redeeming quality is that he wants to be a good father to his daughter; meanwhile, she is more knowledgeable about the modern world that has left Rob behind.

Rosie Seraphine Harper will be a name to watch out for, as she portrays Winnie with such incredible comic timing, balanced with heartbreaking dramatic expression when things aren’t going well for her parents. One earnest scene in which she lists everything she thinks boys can do better than girls is deftly edited for heightened emotional impact, further spotlighting this young lady’s acting.

However, the movie does sometimes belabor its points, dragging out some of the sports action longer than it should. Some of the gags are carried a little too far, where they might have been funnier had they been cut down. The movie could have been 20 minutes shorter without hurting it or removing any of its best jokes. The only other thing that might diminish Lady Ballers is that some of the things in this movie that should be ridiculous are happening in real life, as evidenced by the montage that included Reilly Gaines.

I went into this movie thinking I was going to hate it, but there was a lot to like. The jokes land because they are genuinely funny and use the actors’ personalities. Its climax brings Rob’s ludicrous plan to its most obvious conclusion, then takes a heartwarming turn that underscores the movie’s theme. It doesn’t denigrate transgender people but makes the arguments that we’ve long been told we’re not allowed to make. It’s a human comedy that answers its questions with humor rather than derision.

Rotten Tomatoes gave this a 40% fresh rating, which was higher than I expected from the critics, but it turns out that rating is based on only five reviews. Meanwhile, an audience of 5000+ rated it 77%. It’s actually got a lot in common with Mike Judge’s cult classic Idiocracy in that it follows the silliness of its plot all the way to the end. It’s not great comedy, but it’s good comedy, and if the people it lampoons can’t take the joke, it’s simply because they don’t like the conclusions it comes to, not because there is anything wrong with the movie itself.

Audiences are reminded constantly that Daily Wire+ made Lady Ballers, and Candace Owens even used it to detract from Jeremy Boreing in her most recent rants against him. This is mainly to poison the well against the entire channel based on one movie. The trailer for Scary Movie 6 goes much further than Lady Ballers ever approaches, and it’s an entire movie. Using it as a tactic to detract from the streamer’s other content and Jeremy Boreing’s work is an underhanded attack, especially since the movie is better than it’s made out to be.

LADY BALLERS REVIEW SCORE

Lady Ballers is available on Daily Wire+ with a subscription and for rent on Amazon and Apple.